Sun, Nov 30, 2003

“A Just War?” - an archived Debate from NPR’s Justice Talking

“Never before, in the history of the world, has there been a global, visible, public, viable, open dialogue ˜ about the very legitimacy of war.”  So said Dr. Robert Muller, former assistant secretary general of the United Nations, in a recent speech.  President Bush and his allies say the cause is just, but critics answer that a just cause is not the same as a just war.  This special edition of Justice Talking looked at the current conflict in Iraq and asked, is this a just war?

The featured guests included Tanya Gilly, a Kurd from Northern Iraq who comes from a family of political activists opposed to Saddam HusseinÃs rule. Her father was arrested on several occasions for his resistance activities, and the family was forced to flee Iraq in the1970s. Ms. Gilly worked for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan , one of the two parties that governs the Kurdish safe haven. A member of Women for a Free Iraq, she is dedicated to advancing democracy and pluralism in a free Iraq.

Also joining the show was Dr. Sarah Zaidi,  the research director of the Center for Economic and Social Rights , an international human rights organization based in New York City. She is the co-author of the report, “The Human Costs of War in Iraq,” issued in February following a CESR research visit to Iraq. The report warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in the event of war and outlined likely failures of water and sewage systems, as is now occurring in Basra. She has conducted fact-finding missions to Iraq since the first Gulf War in 1991.

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